The Morning Heresy 8/20/12: Nothing More Than Meat

August 20, 2012

Your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

There is a lot of good stuff from over the weekend, so let's get right to it.

So you may have heard over the weekend that Rep. Todd Akin, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Missouri, declared that women have a "biological mechanism" that can prevent pregnancy in the case of "legitimate rape." I know, it's one of the worst things I've ever heard too. Akin now says he "misspoke," which doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense, and the Romney-Ryan campaign is trying to distance itself. Electorally, this could potentially put the otherwise-doomed incumbent Democratic senator Claire McCaskill back in the game, but I wouldn't bet too much on Akin's defeat. It's that kind of world right now.

Akin's comments reveal a religious culture fundamentally opposed to women's equality. On the rape exception question in particular, he's not forging new ground, but rather echoing tropes long in circulation.

Ron Lindsay returns to the virtual panel on HuffPost Live today to discuss the enormously uplifting Monday morning topic of death and grieving. It starts at about 12:40pm.

Ron also aims a skeptical eye at the thesis of Jonathan Haidt's book getting a lot of attention lately, The Righteous Mind -- with an example taken from, ahem, consensual cannibalism:

Morality is not merely a matter of knowing what’s right and wrong. For moral institutions to be effective, people have to be disposed to act in certain ways. If many of us were to begin to think of other humans as nothing more than meat, this attitude would almost surely manifest itself in ways detrimental to the welfare of the community. Given Haidt’s own emphasis on moral psychology, it’s puzzling that he does not seem to consider a change in attitude that causes us to lose respect for our fellow humans as harmful.

Jen McCreight sounds a call to begin atheism's new wave (no, not like the B-52s new wave) - a concerted focus on social justice, which happens to jibe with the most recent Free Inquiry, which has a special section on "Humanism with a Pulse."

Head of CFI-DC Melody Hensley did a stint onPublic Reality Radio's Reality Check on Friday to discuss Women in Secularism.

George Ongere, executive director CFI-Kenya, fills us in on the work of his organization, including their "Support a Humanist Orphan" initiative.`

An 11-year-old girl is reportedly arrested for blasphemy in Pakistan for allegedly burning pages from a Quran. The girl may also have down syndrome. At Friendly Atheist, I talk about how this kind of persecution exposes blasphemy laws for the vindictive bullying they are.

Leah Libresco warns folks, particularly her fellow Christians, to watch it with the cheap shots against Mormonism, such as knocks on the so-called "magic underwear":

You could make the argument that all ritual and tradition is a warning sign, and it’s just that Christianity has enough other kind of evidence on its side to overcome these red flags, but I think that’s not a case any Christian can make with a straight face. But that’s the claim you’re supporting when you attack Mormonism for its aesthetic/ritual components instead of attacking the truth-claims it makes.

German court rules that the far-right "Citizens Movement - Pro Germany" group can display images of Muhammad, despite the feelings of Muslim groups.

Today in 1858, Darwin first published his theory of evolution by natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London.

As the petition for Alexander Aan sputtered last week, I attempted to work out some thoughts and emotions in an open letter to Alexander published at Friendly Atheist. Folks had some strong feelings about it, to say the least. Stephanie Zvan also struggles to come to grips with the petition's failure and what it means for the broader movement.

Comments:

Don’t forget that Alfred Russel Wallace also published his paper today in 1858 in the same journal. Not a coincidence - they knew their work overlapped and arranged to publish simultaneously - and yet somehow Darwin always gets the credit (or blame).

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Paul Fidalgo has been communications director of the Center for Inquiry since 2012. He holds a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University, and has worked previously for FairVote: The Center for Voting and Democracy and the Secular Coalition for America. Paul is also an actor and musician whose work includes five years performing with the American Shakespeare Center. He lives in Maine with his wife and kids. His blog at the Patheos network is iMortal, and he tweets at @paulfidalgo.